http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2...111710.php

"A better understanding of how we use acoustic cues to stress new information and put old information in the background may help computer programmers produce more realistic-sounding speech. Dr. Michael Wagner, a researcher in McGill's Department of Linguistics, has compared the way French- and English-speakers evaluate poetry, as a way of finding evidence for a systematic difference in how the two languages use these cues."

Computers are like old dogs. It's hard to teach them new tricks. Or something.

The last paper you made a thread about was more interesting. In this paper the goal is "pure science" i.e. "[find] evidence for a systematic difference in how [English and French] use acoustic cues [to stress new info]." In the other paper, they take the already completed theoretical research, combine it with some of their own, and apply it in order to "help learners learn" which I say is a more admirable goal.